Seeing Red: Chassagne-Montrachet
That famed vineyard straddles the border between Chassagne and the neighbouring village of Puligny, divided almost equally between the two. Thus when the villages of the Côte d’Or started appending the names of their most famous vineyards to the village names, in an effort to raise their profile, Chassagne and Puligny both laid claim to Montrachet. It produces the most storied dry white wine on the planet, casting a long shadow in the process and cementing the assumption that any wine with the name ‘Montrachet’ in it is, by definition, white.
Party time outside Domaine Ramonet during last year’s Saint Vincent Tournante.
This is almost true of Puligny, where only a tiny amount of red is produced, but certainly not Chassagne, where most domaines produce very acceptable reds alongside their more celebrated whites – and usually at much more attractive prices. One such producer is Domaine Ramonet where the brothers Jean-Claude and Noël turn out red wines that tingle with excitement. There’s an impressive Bourgogne Passetoutgrains, a vibrant Pinot Noir and a 1er cru ‘Boudriotte’ that is a delight, vintage after vintage, and which is so gloriously quaffable that it disappears out of the glass at an alarming speed. (Don’t forget that the Ramonets are also responsible for some of the most distinctive and characterful white wines in all of Burgundy.)
What to expect in red Chassagne? An arresting, raw rasp of cherry fruit is its most usual signature. ‘Rustic’ is a term that is sometimes applied and ‘finesse’ and ‘elegance’ don’t usually crop up in my tasting notes. But if you want something immediately likeable and notably expressive then look no further.
